STOCK MARKET WATCH, Tuesday, November 22, 2011

[Pale Blue Dot]

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Tuesday, November 22, 2011

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON November 21, 2011

Dow 11,547.31 -248.85 (-2.16%)
Nasdaq 2,523.14 -49.36 (-1.96%)
S&P 500 1,192.98 -22.67 (-1.90%)
10-Yr Bond... 1.98 +0.02 (+1.22%)
30-Year Bond 2.97 +0.02 (+0.71%)

---

Market Conditions During Trading Hours

Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold

---

Handy Links - Market Data and News:Economic Calendar    Marketwatch Data    Bloomberg Economic News    Yahoo! Finance    Google Finance    Bank Tracker    
Credit Union Tracker    Daily Job Cuts

Handy Links - Economic Blogs:
The Big Picture    Financial Sense    Calculated Risk    Naked Capitalism    Credit Writedowns
Brad DeLong      Bonddad    Atrios    goldmansachs666    The Stand-Up Economist

Handy Links - Government Issues:
LegitGov    Open Government    Earmark Database    USA spending.gov

Handy Links - Videos:
The Coming Collapse of the Middle Class    Charlie Rose talks with Roubini    Charlie Rose talks with Krugman
    William Black: This Economic Disaster    Bill Moyers with Kevin Drum and David Corn

Bush Administration Officials Convicted = 2
Names: David Safavian, James Fondren
Dishonorable Mention: former House majority leader, Tom DeLay

Bush Administration Officials Charged = 1
Name(s): Richard Lopez Razo

Financial Sector Officials Convicted since 1/20/09 = 12

---

---

This thread contains opinions and observations. Individuals may post their experiences, inferences and opinions on this thread. However, it should not be construed as advice. It is unethical (and probably illegal) for financial recommendations to be given here.

Read more: du

[Pale Blue Dot]

1. Today's Reports

Nov 22 08:30 GDP - Second Estimate Q3 2.3% 2.5% 2.5%
Nov 22 08:30 GDP Deflator - Second Estimate Q3 2.5% 2.5% 2.5%
Nov 22 14:00 FOMC Minutes Nov. 2

Read more: http://www.briefing.com/investor/calendars/economic/2011/11/21-25/#ixzz1eR1SCsVU

[Roland99]

43. Third-quarter U.S. GDP reduced to 2.0% from 2.5%

[Pale Blue Dot]

45. Economic growth over the summer revised downward

The U.S. economy grew at a modest pace in the July-September quarter, lower than first estimated, as businesses cut back more sharply on restocking of shelves.

The Commerce Department’s second estimate of U.S. third-quarter gross domestic product, released Tuesday, showed the economy grew at a downwardly-revised 2 percent rate.

“Although growth was downsized, it’s still the strongest showing of 2011,” said Vimombi Nshom, an economist with IFR Economics, a unit of Thomson, adding that GDP’s largest component -- consumer spending -- is still holding up.

A Reuters survey had forecasted a 2.5 percent annualized rate of growth in the third quarter, the same as the first estimate.

http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/22/8950960-economic-growth-over-the-summer-revised-downward

[Roland99]

74. Richmond Fed: Manufacturing activity stabilized in November (up to 0 from -6)

http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2011/11/richmond-fed-manufacturing-activity.html

[Pale Blue Dot]

2. Oil near $98 ahead of US crude supply data

SINGAPORE – Oil prices rose to near $98 a barrel Tuesday in Asia as traders looked to the latest U.S. crude supply reports for signs demand may be improving.

Benchmark crude for January delivery was up 72 cents at $97.64 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 75 cents to settle at $96.92 in New York on Monday.

Brent crude for January delivery was up 60 cents at $107.48 a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange in London.

The American Petroleum Institute is scheduled to report later Tuesday crude inventories data for last week. Analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos., are predicting crude levels were unchanged.

http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/oil_prices

[Pale Blue Dot]

3. U.S. Stock-Index Futures Advance on Rating

U.S. stock-index futures advanced, indicating the benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will snap a four-day decline, as rating companies reaffirmed the country’s creditworthiness.

Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures expiring in December advanced 0.3 percent to 1,194.40 at 10:20 a.m. in London. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures climbed 20 points, or 0.2 percent, to 11,545. The S&P 500 dropped 5.2 percent over the past four trading days as higher government bond yields in Spain, France and Italy spurred concern the European debt crisis is intensifying outside Greece.

“We’re seeing a technical rebound after yesterday’s declines,” said Jacques Porta, a fund manager at Ofi Patrimoine in Paris, who helps oversee about $400 million. “The political deadlock in the U.S. brings more questions. The situation remains difficult.”

Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s Investors Service maintained their U.S. credit ratings after the close of trading, even as Congress’s special debt-reduction committee failed to reach an agreement. The impasse will trigger automatic spending cuts of $1.2 trillion.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-22/u-s-stock-index-futures-are-little-changed-on-budget-deficit-concern.html#

[xchrom]

4. i want to be sure to wish every one a Happy Thanksgiving! what are you're plans?

:donut:

[InkAddict]

10. Thanks xchrom - We will be sharing the bird at my daughter's

4 miles away - My pup is having serious surgery today. I hope to be Thankful he's on the mend or that he won't be sufferring from his afflictions any moreso; either way, I'll be thankful this sweet pup is/was in our lives. An added plus, I got a grandbaby for real fun and distraction - Hope your's is a good one, too.

[xchrom]

12. congratulations on grandbaby!

very sorry to hear about your pup.

it's so hard when one of animals gets sick -- they can't understand the way most of us can.

[InkAddict]

93. Good news so far - the 12-year-old pup made it through a very

long surgery - 9:30 am - 1:00 pm. He's doing good so far. He's getting fluids and oxygen and good meds. They'll be watching him closely for the next few days. We might even be able to bring him home on Saturday. Here's to my boy, the surgeon, and the great staff at MedVet.

[Demeter]

15. Hosting the Condo Party Sunday

Looks like we are up to two birds, now. It's usually well-attended.

Going to Nutcracker Saturday. Trying to take Friday off entirely.

And of course, there will be a Sunday-sized paper to deliver by 6AM Thursday, which will be a neat trick if the presses are late, as usual.

Stole a joke from yesterday:

A driver was stuck in a traffic jam on the highway outside Washington , DC . Nothing was moving. Suddenly, a man knocks on the window.

The driver rolls down the window and asks, "What's going on?"

"Terrorists have kidnapped Congress, and they're asking for a $100 million dollar ransom. Otherwise, they are going to douse them all in gasoline and set them on fire. We are going from car to car, collecting donations."

"How much is everyone giving?" the driver asks.

The man replies, "Roughly a gallon"

And as for today's cartoon: That which Cannot Continue, Will Not Continue!

[xchrom]

16. your condo party sounds grand!

and the joke?
:rofl: love it!

hope you get friday off!

[DemReadingDU]

60. Funny joke

:rofl:

[Hugin]

32. Thanks and backatcha, xchrom!

:party:

[xchrom]

41. thanks. you have a good thanksgiving!

:hi:

[Tansy_Gold]

36. Dinner with friends and strangers

I have no idea what's on the menu, but I do know dessert will be

SPECTACULAR

because I'm baking lemon meringue pies.




(Except this is a pic from the innertubes and mine actually look BETTER than this!)

[xchrom]

39. damn it! now i want lemon merigue.

x(

have a wonderful time!

[Roland99]

44. Hosting 17 people for our 1st Thanksgiving in our house.

Friends from south FL are up, my Dad and Stepmom coming over, and a neighbor (from the U.K.) who lives across the street and her three sons.

Gonna be lots of gobble gobble going on! :)



oh...and I'm baking this right here:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Best-Ever-Pie-Crust/Detail.aspx
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Apple-Pie-by-Grandma-Ople/Detail.aspx
http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/Making-a-Lattice-Top-Pie-Crust/Detail.aspx

[xchrom]

55. have a wonderful day!

my mom is in cali -- so no mom's apple pie for me this year.

[DemReadingDU]

61. Yum, pie!

Apple is my favorite, but I also eat lemon, pumpkin, cherry, peach.
Doesn't leave much room for turkey
:)

[Warpy]

75. My plans are Chinese takeout and a day of spinning

because I'm finishing up a pound of gorgeous slate blue wool for a sweater and I hope I'll be able to finish the yarn and process it by Thursday night, maybe get to cast it on by Friday night if it dries quickly enough.

I have a couple of DVDs to watch and some rude music to play.

Old broads whose families have died off need to find ways to amuse themselves on the big family holidays.

[Tansy_Gold]

92. Can I come to your house? I'll bring pie. . .. . n/t

[AnneD]

77. I will be home this Thanksgiving.....

opting to see my brother for a longer spell at Christmas. I have work to do here and need to get it done by the end of the month.

I plan to spend some time with my favorite Italian family. You know, they put the fun back in dysfunctional. And besides, it just isn't Thanksgiving without lasagna. We will eat too much, drink too much and laugh too much. My friend's husband (this is her family) passed away last month so I want to be there for her and her kids. The wounds are still fresh for her so I just want to be there for her. We unusually call my daughter and Mom from there so they all can talk to them. It's sorta crazy, but very nice.

I am going to the House of Pies and get an Italian Cream cake or maybe a German Chocolate cake (it is not you typical cakes)to bring with me.

In this time of great need for many, I am thankful that I have wonderful friends and we can all share a special time together. I am greatful for my online friends here. I enjoy our chats and credit much of what I read here with helping me manage my money better and make wiser decisions.

[xchrom]

5. asia: Chinese villagers demand return of illegally seized land

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/22/china-land-grab-protests

Thousands of villagers angry that officials failed to address their grievances after riots two months ago marched to a government office in southern China to demand the return of land they say was illegally seized, witnesses and media said.

The protest came after a series of strikes in factories in Guangdong province, China's economic powerhouse.

Rural land disputes are increasing and spreading to the undeveloped west of the country, according to a poll published in October in a magazine run by Xinhua news agency.

One witness identifying himself by his surname Yang said by phone that 4,000 villagers and farmers from Wukan surrounded government offices in Lufeng City on Monday. The protesters denounced local officials as greedy and corrupt. They dispersed after an hour without incident.

[xchrom]

9. Tokyo and Osaka Exchanges Reach $1.1 Billion Merger Deal

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/11/22/tokyo-and-osaka-exchanges-reach-1-1-billion-merger-deal/

TOKYO — The Tokyo Stock Exchange, Japan’s largest, on Tuesday announced a $1.1 billion merger deal with the Osaka Securities Exchange that would create the world’s third-largest exchange, measured by the value of listed stock

The deal, which would unify the two exchanges by January 2013, is a bid to keep up with stiff competition among global market operators and to put Japanese equities back on the world map.

With listed stocks worth about $3.6 trillion, the new exchange would trail only NYSE Euronext and Nasdaq OMX, both based in New York, according to Reuters.

The merger deal, which comes after months of difficult negotiations, aims to reverse a decline in Tokyo’s standing as a global financial center. The Tokyo Stock Exchange, which in its heyday in the late 1980s was by far the world’s largest, has since seen trading slump in tandem with the Japanese economy.

[xchrom]

23. South Korea ratifies long-delayed US trade deal

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15832451

South Korea's parliament has ratified a free-trade deal with the US, after years of wrangling over the issue.

Members of the ruling Grand National Party, which has a majority, convened to force the bill through in a 151-7 vote.

Most of the opposition abstained. One politician set off a tear-gas canister before the vote and others jeered as the bill passed.

The US Congress ratified the deal last month and it has now been made law.

[xchrom]

64. Japan torn over US-led free-trade pact

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Japan/MK23Dh01.html

TOKYO - At first glance, Yoshio Hachiro and Masahiko Yamada look like they have been cut from the same piece of wood. Both men worked in agriculture for decades before turning to politics.

Sixty-three-year-old Hachiro was a general manager of a rural farming cooperative in Hokkaido, Japan's most northern prefecture. He promoted Imakane Danshaku, locally grown potatoes considered such a delicacy that they are sold individually wrapped in Tokyo's ritzy and posh department stores.

Yamada, 69, is a farmer, a lawyer as well as a veteran member of the Lower House of parliament and a native from an island 100 kilometers west of the southern prefecture Nagasaki. He is the author of several books on the perceived threat to agriculture in


Japan, including Japan will be crushed by imported food and Japan to be smashed by China on food. He also published a novel on food security called The Japan-US food war. <1>

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has announced his nation entered into preliminary talks to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a regional economic pact under negotiation by nine nations across the Asia-Pacific, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Hawaii earlier this month.

[xchrom]

67. China bubble a global concern

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China_Business/MK23Cb01.html

China's economy has been growing at a phenomenal pace in recent decades, averaging around 10% a year. Few people seemed to worry, therefore, when the Chinese government announced recently that gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the third quarter of 2011 slowed to "only" 9.1% . Almost any country would envy such growth. Yet beneath the continued robust appearances, there are signs that China is heading toward a crash reminiscent of the one that brought down the United States economy during 2007-2008.

China too is facing a real estate bubble financed by an unregulated shadow banking system that is just lately starting to get squeezed between tightening government regulation of credit and sharply falling export sales. If real estate prices finally start to tumble, the shock to bullish Chinese investors could collapse the


shadow banking system, drive many smaller businesses under, and create severe unemployment problems.

Although the US Congress is still fixated on the supposed problem of an undervalued currency, a serious slowdown of the Chinese economy could have worse implications for the world economy than the much touted exchange rate issue.

[xchrom]

6. europe: Poor see biggest drop in household finances

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/nov/21/poor-see-biggest-drop-household-finances

Household finances have plummeted at the sharpest pace since August, according to a monthly survey that underlines the worsening economic situation in the UK.

The survey also revealed that the downturn in household finances was unevenly distributed and had increased the gap between the highest and lowest income groups.

Low income groups and public sector workers reported the sharpest falls in income while those on higher incomes reported only a limited fall.

The headline Markit Household Finance Index (HFI) stood at 34.6 in November, down from 35.0 in October, pointing to the sharpest deterioration in household finances for three months.

[xchrom]

20. Spain's cost of borrowing increases sharply

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15836972

Spain's cost of borrowing rose sharply when the government sold short-term debt on financial markets on Tuesday.

It was the country's first fund-raising since the change of government at Sunday's general election.

Spain raised 2.98bn euros ($4bn, £2.6bn) in an auction of three- and six-month bills, but at higher yields.

On the three-month bills, the annualised interest rate Spain had to pay more than doubled to 5.11%, from 2.29% at the last auction in October.

[Roland99]

50. Austria, Belgian Bonds Crushed

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/austria-belgian-bonds-crushed

[Roland99]

52. European CDS Rerack: Germany Back To Triple Digits

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/european-cds-rerack-germany-back-triple-digits

[xchrom]

58. Merkel slaps down EU push for eurobonds

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_GERMANY_FINANCIAL_CRISIS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-11-22-09-30-48

BERLIN (AP) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel slapped down a new European Union push for bonds issued jointly by the 17 euro nations, saying Tuesday that they wouldn't resolve the debt crisis and now is the wrong time to discuss them.

Merkel dug in on her resistance to calls for an instant solution to the crisis hours after the EU's top economic official tried to sell a skeptical Germany on Brussels' new drive for so-called "eurobonds," which the EU's executive Commission is now calling "stability bonds."

Merkel has staunchly opposed anything resembling eurobonds, which the Commission's head argues would be an effective way to avoid disaster as many countries' borrowing costs spiral higher in the debt crisis.

The chancellor noted in a speech to Germany's main employers' association that so-called eurobonds "have just come very much back into fashion."

[Roland99]

62. Case for gold in the eurozone bail-out (or...what gold?)

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/c7f61068-1472-11e1-8367-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1eRlkSZON

But now the use of gold to fund a eurozone bail-out is coming closer to reality. Buried within a draft of the European Commission study on joint ‘eurobonds’, reported by the Financial Times this week, is the suggestion that gold could be used as collateral for these bonds.

In order to “enhance” the guarantees on the eurobonds, the draft says, governments could provide collateral, including “gold reserves which are largely in excess of needs in most EU countries”.

Between them, the central banks of the eurozone hold 10,792 tonnes of gold – 6.5 per cent of all the yellow metal that has ever been mined – worth some $590bn.

Let’s be clear: this does not imply central banks are getting ready to sell gold to bail out the eurozone. Beyond the numerous legal problems (selling reserves to fund government borrowing contravenes the Maastricht treaty), gold disposals just looks too desperate.

The Question(s) Of Italy's 2451.8 Tons Of Gold
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/questions-italys-24518-tons-gold

As the following update from the World Gold Council reminds us, at the end of October, Italy had 2,451.8 tonnes of gold, or roughly $140 billion dollars at today's price. We doubt we are the only ones keeping track of all this gold (most of it almost certainly 'safe and sound' about 150 feet deep under the infamous LIberty 33 location). We also doubt we are the only ones curious about its future, which we see as have five distinct possible outcomes: i) nothing; ii) it is currently being shipped quietly from The New York Fed to Italy for "general corporate purposes); iii) it has already been shipped and is currently being loaded up in Silvio's private jet; iv) the G-20 is already preparing to launch a formal demand that in order to remain in the Eurozone and to find the EFSF, which will be used to buy Italian bonds, Italy will have to do its patriotic duty and remit it to the ECB, an extortion attempt which was tried with Germany last week and which failed spectacularly; or v) it is being lent out to other countries who have long since sold their gold and continue to pretend they have some hard asset backing to the currencies issued by their own central banks. We hope to get an answer shortly.

[xchrom]

7. Gingrich calls for private retirement accounts

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/9959912

Associated Press= MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Republican presidential contender Newt Gingrich on Monday proposed allowing younger workers still decades away from retirement to bypass Social Security and instead choose private investment accounts that would be subject to stock market gyrations.

The former House speaker, who has risen in the polls, would allow younger workers to take their share of the payroll tax that funds Social Security and put it in a private account.

Employers would still pay their share of the tax, which would be used to pay benefits for current retirees. But it would create a funding shortfall that Gingrich brushed off.

"That gap is more than covered by the savings" that would come from giving states control of 185 social welfare programs, Gingrich told reporters after a speech that laid out broad concepts but lacked key details.

[Demeter]

18. Can't they get him on Income Tax Evasion, or Something?

a man who can't count ought to be vulnerable in that area

[xchrom]

25. i know, right? nt

[cosmicdot]

69. "House reprimands" .

I have to add an, "I know, right?", too.


You'd think this ...

"House Reprimands, Penalizes Speaker"

By John E. Yang
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 22 1997; Page A01

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/govt/leadership/stories/012297.htm

... would have shut his pie hole years ago :) ... yet ...

... instead ... he's been nursing a tax exempt, tax deductible 'charity'/'education' "organization"; and, amongst
'books' etc, he's been financially supplemented by being a "fellow at conservative think tanks the American Enterprise Institute and Hoover Institution" (wiki)


I thought we would be rid of hearing his yammering pair of lips.

"...During the 2009 special election in New York's 23rd congressional district, Gingrich endorsed moderate Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava, rather than Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman, who had been endorsed by several nationally prominent Republicans. He was heavily criticized for this endorsement, with conservatives questioning his candidacy for President in 2012 and even comparing him to Benedict Arnold, a traitor during America's War of Independence. Gingrich has since regretted his decision."


*****

Happy Thanksgiving; and,
thanks for all you and you (plural) do!

[xchrom]

8. A Blow to Pinstripe Aspirations

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/11/21/wall-st-layoffs-take-heavy-toll-on-younger-workers/

Earlier this fall, Steve Ferdman celebrated getting a job offer from Credit Suisse in the usual Wall Street fashion. Over expensive oysters and dark rum cocktails at a trendy Manhattan restaurant with his parents, he toasted landing the full-time position after working six months as a consultant without benefits.

A week later, Mr. Ferdman, 28, sat alone at the same place and ordered a gin and tonic to lament getting laid off by the bank, for the second time since 2008. When he told the bartender about his misfortune, his next round was on the house.

“I did everything right. I came into work every day, I put in long hours, and I still got punched in the face,” Mr. Ferdman said. “People shouldn’t want to work in this industry anymore.”

Being young on Wall Street once meant having it all: style, smarts and too much money to spend wisely. Now, twenty-somethings in the finance industry are losing both cash and cachet.

[Demeter]

19. Oh, Dear, Whatever will they do?

Who gives a care?

[xchrom]

24. ...

:evilgrin:

[Tansy_Gold]

38. Ditto

:hee hee hee:

[Roland99]

76. Rough Times for the Brokerage Industry

http://www.forbes.com/sites/joshuabrown/2011/11/22/rough-times-for-the-brokerage-industry/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

And if you think the stocks look bad, you should what this industry – worldwide – looks like from the inside. According to Bloomberg, we’re at around 200,000 layoffs for global financial services firms this year, eclipsing the previous high of 174,000 back in 2009.

And the pain is everywhere, now that the salutary effects of zero percent interest rates have run their course.

Bankers are being laid off.

Brokers are being laid off.

Traders are being laid off.

Support staff are being laid off.

Product people are being laid off.

Wealth management people are being laid off.

Analysts are being laid off.

And the thing is, once you get laid off, it’s harder than ever to find a firm that wants you. Or needs you. Because the pie is shrinking and those still with a grip on their slice are certainly not willing to part with even a crumb of it – after all, who knows how small this thing is going to get?

[xchrom]

11. With MF Global Case Growing, Agency Expands Enforcement

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/11/21/with-mf-global-case-growing-agency-expands-enforcement/

he Commodity Futures Trading Commission is setting up specialized enforcement units to expose financial wrongdoing, the agency’s enforcement chief said on Monday, an act that coincides with the agency taking a leading role in the investigation of MF Global.

David Meister, the agency’s enforcement chief, said he was creating two enforcement squads, one that will examine fraud and manipulation, and the other to take aim at wrongdoing in the swaps market, a $600 trillion industry at the center of the 2008 financial meltdown.

The move is part of a broader push to revamp the agency’s once-quiet enforcement unit. Under Mr. Meister, a former federal prosecutor and once a partner at the law firm Skadden, Arps, Meagher & Flom, the agency brought 99 enforcement actions over the last fiscal year, 74 percent more than the prior year.

Unlike the “cousin who comes at the holidays,” Mr. Meister said at a Practising Law Institute event in New York on Monday, “We’re here to stay.”

[Po_d Mainiac]

14. “We’re here to stay.” ????

Or till he's told to go away

in 5-4-3

[xchrom]

17. yeah, i'm not gonna hold my breath. nt

[Demeter]

21. Where have they been, anyway?

It's not like any fanfare has been blown about....and wasn't that 2008 he's talking about?

[Po_d Mainiac]

27. It ain't like he'd be allowed to stray nt

[Po_d Mainiac]

13. A banner day

BoA'holes and Crapital-on-One were kind enough to send CC applications with SASE's.....They shall be getting 'Rockler splinters' in return, along with their paperwork (minus any personal info)

If enough people do this, the post office may be able to make up for the commerce lost to the digital age!

:bounce:

[xchrom]

22. south asia: India rupee hits all-time US dollar low

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15832048

India's rupee has hit an all-time low against the US dollar, with companies buying the greenback amid continuing fear about the global financial crisis.

The rupee plunged to 52.50 to the dollar on Tuesday, sparking new inflation concerns. The rupee has now fallen 14% since the start of 2011.

Delhi said the fall reflected market uncertainty and urged against an "overreaction".

The fall is also due to some investors leaving emerging markets, analysts say.

[Demeter]

26. Warning From Wall St Broker: “Entire System Utterly Destroyed”; Recommends “ALL customers Withdraw

From All Markets”

http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/warning-from-wall-street-broker-the-entire-system-has-been-utterly-destroyed-recommends-all-customers-withdraw-from-all-of-the-markets_11182011

Editor’s Note: You will rarely, if ever again, see a brokerage firm close their doors not as a result of losing all of their customers’ money, but rather, preemptively in order to prevent them from being wiped out. That’s exactly what Ann Barnhardt of Barnhardt Capital Management did Thursday morning when she advised clients that her firm was liquidating all customer brokerage and options accounts. In a series of letters published on her web site, disseminated by Zero Hedge, and brought to us by The Daily Crux, Ms. Barnhardt takes the unprecedented step of shutting down her firm in order to prevent losses in what she says is a system that “is no longer functioning with integrity and is suicidally risk-laden.”

MORE

[Tansy_Gold]

42. from the website --

shtfplan.com --


yes, folks, just as you may have surmised, that URL really does stand for what you think it does.


"When the shit hits the fan, don't say we didn't warn you."




However, when Ms. Barnhardt writes, Jon Corzine STOLE the customer cash at MF Global. Knowing Jon Corzine, and knowing the abject lawlessness and contempt for humanity of the Marxist Obama regime and its cronies, this is not really a surprise, well, you have to kind of wonder where her brains are at.





Tansy Gold, who doesn't trust the analyses of people who think Obama is a Marxist

[Demeter]

53. It's Just a Random Epithet

Some people use "Marxist" the way others use "bastard" or other pejoratives.


I doubt that any finance person would even know what the term meant.

[Tansy_Gold]

63. Well. . . .

Any "finance" person who doesn't understand Marx and Marxism and/or recognize the difference between a Marxist and Obama isn't very bright. But I repeat myself.


:evilgrin:

[Demeter]

85. Come on, Tansy. It's not Like the MBA Schools are Going to Teach It!

And it's not like the greedy bastards are going to do research on it either. There's no money in Marxism, you know, no profit-skimming opportunities, no piracy...

[Ghost Dog]

89. You're right.. n/t

[Hotler]

68. +1 n/t

[xchrom]

28. middle east: Egyptian stock exchange suspended after 5% dip

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15834861

Trading on Egypt's stock exchange was automatically suspended on Tuesday after the main EGX 100 index fell 5%.

It followed a 4% fall on Monday, and came as Egypt's ruling military council began talks with protesters following violent clashes in the capital.

The exchange reopened after an hour, ending the day 5.5% lower. It is now down 47% since the start of the year.

Egypt's stock exchange shut for two months from January during protests that ousted ex-President Hosni Mubarak.

[Demeter]

29. As Layoffs Rise, Stock Buybacks Consume Cash

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/22/business/rash-to-some-stock-buybacks-are-on-the-rise.html

When Pfizer cut its research budget this year and laid off 1,100 employees, it was not because the company needed to save money.

In fact, the drug maker had so much cash left over, it decided to buy back an additional $5 billion worth of stock on top of the $4 billion already earmarked for repurchases in 2011 and beyond.

The moves, announced on the same day, might seem at odds with each other, but they represent an increasingly common pattern among American corporations, which are sitting on record amounts of cash but insist that growth opportunities are hard to find.

The result is that at a time when the nation is looking for ways to battle unemployment, big companies are creating fewer jobs, and critics say they are neglecting to lay the foundation for future growth by expanding into new businesses or building new plants.

What is more, share buybacks have not fulfilled their stated purpose of rewarding investors over the last decade, experts say. “It’s a symptom of a deeper problem, which is a lack of investment in the long term,” said William W. George, a Harvard Business School professor and former chief executive of Medtronic, a medical technology company. “If we’re not investing in research, innovation and entrepreneurship, we’re going to be a slow-growth country for a decade.”

[Demeter]

91. MEANWHILE...Pfizer settles overseas bribery allegations

http://www.pmlive.com/find_an_article/allarticles/categories/General/2011/november_2011/news/pfizer_overseas_bribery_settlement

Pfizer has agreed to pay around $60m to settle allegations that it paid kickbacks in order to encourage uptake of its products outside the US, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The newspaper claims that the drugmaker will make the settlement by the end of the year in order to bring federal investigations into its overseas sales practices under the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act to a close.

The US Department of Justice and Securities & Exchange Commission have been probing a number of drugmakers over the alleged payment of bribes to foreign health officials in return for benefits such as the inclusion of products on formularies or the favourable interpretation of clinical data. Earlier this year, Johnson & Johnson agreed to pay almost $80m to settle charges that it paid kickbacks to officials in Europe and Iraq in return for medical device and pharmaceutical orders, while other firms under scrutiny include Merck & Co, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb and GlaxoSmithKline. For example, Merck has said it is under investigation over allegations that Schering-Plough, which it bought in 2009, paid bribes to clinics in Vietnam in return for prescribing its hepatitis treatment PegIntron (pegylated interferon alfa-2b).

Pfizer said in August that it had provided information to the DoJ and SEC regarding "potentially improper payments made by Pfizer and by Wyeth in connection with certain sales activities outside the US". The drugmaker acquired Wyeth for $68bn in 2009.

In its latest SEC quarterly report, the company confirms that it has reached agreements in principle over a settlement, but does not divulge the magnitude of the payment.

[Demeter]

30. Wall St. banks wonder if they are shrinking for good

http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-wall-st-banks-wonder-shrinking-good-222825493.html

Wall Street bankers are used to vicious swings in fortunes BUT...The job losses, bonus cuts and clampdown on the size of trading books this time around, though, seem different. It's not just the euro zone crisis, weak loan demand and volatile trading that has hurt profits, but a raft of new and proposed rules aimed at curbing risk and its sometime partner, reward...Bankers say they can wait out the cyclical economic forces, but they're choking on fears that the new rules will fundamentally change their business models...An admission from the head of the second-biggest U.S. investment bank(MORGANSTANLEY) that he's okay with shrinking is an extraordinary recognition of regulatory and market realities, said Roy Smith, a former Goldman Sachs partner who teaches management practice at NYU's Stern School of Business. A shrinking bank model has huge implications for many things in business - from how speculative and liquid the world's capital markets will remain to whether thousands of freshly minted MBAs -- not to mention veteran bankers -- will find or keep Wall Street jobs. Gorman didn't expand on what he may do, but Morgan Stanley has joined other banks in outsourcing business functions, firing employees and slimming bonus pools.

He has also been trimming the bank's reliance on capital-consuming capital markets businesses by expanding his bet on the more stable world of old-fashioned retail brokerage. Fees from advising rich people on investments now fuel more than 40 percent of Morgan Stanley's revenue and should grow as the firm acquires full ownership of a joint venture Gorman engineered in 2009 with Citigroup's Smith Barney wealth unit....UBS AG has gone further. Following some $50 billion of trading losses during the financial crisis and a rogue-trading scandal earlier this year that cost it $2.3 billion, the Swiss banking giant is reverting to a model in which investment banking and trading are becoming adjuncts to its wealth management operations. Last Thursday, UBS said it will slash risky assets by almost half and cut its return-on-equity target to 12 to 17 percent for 2013 from its earlier 15 to 20 percent range in the face of tough new capital rules and turbulent markets. "We have chosen to substantially reduce the risk profile of the bank by exiting and downsizing businesses which are not value added to our client franchise or deliver unattractive risk-adjusted returns," said UBS boss Sergio Ermotti.

CAPITAL CONSTRICTION

The number of new rules confronting banks is substantial.

Under new global capital rules, banks have to raise higher levels of equity to absorb potential losses from their risky assets. That can be achieved by either issuing stock and diluting current shareholders, or by reducing those risky assets, or a combination of the two. Either way, the chance of big returns (and big losses) is reduced. For the biggest the restrictions are most onerous. Global regulators earlier this month named 29 banks so important to the world's financial system that they must have more capital and closer surveillance than rivals. The list, led by 17 lenders from Europe and eight from the United States, includes Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup.

The Volcker Rule embedded in last year's far-reaching U.S. financial reform law, the Dodd-Frank bill, is also reducing banks' profit potential by curbing trading for their own accounts, and limiting both their derivatives operations and ability to own private equity investments. Banks with big retail lending operations face added constraints from recent rules restricting some credit card charges and capping "swipe fees" that merchants pay banks every time a customer buys something with a debit card. Yet another threat is the "living wills" that big banks operating in the U.S. will have to write by the middle of next year. They will be used as blueprints for guiding regulators on how to break up the firms if they get into severe trouble. If unsatisfied with a plan, regulators can tell a bank to reorganize or even sell off certain lines of business.

Altogether it's a new world of lower risk and lower potential for reward for almost all banks...Behind the scenes, banks are telling policymakers that the new regime could make them more like low-risk utilities, which would reduce their ability to lend to businesses and consumers and keep global markets liquid.

MORE DRIVEL AND WHINING AT LINK

[Demeter]

31. BofA warned by regulators to get stronger

http://news.yahoo.com/bofa-warned-regulators-stronger-report-034041626.html

U.S. regulators have informed Bank of America's board that the company could face public enforcement action if they are not satisfied with recent steps taken to strengthen the bank, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the situation.

BofA has been operating under a memorandum of understanding since May 2009. The memorandum, which is not public, identified governance, risk and liquidity management as problems that had to be fixed, the paper said, citing people familiar with the document. In recent months, regulators met with BofA's board and said they wanted to see more progress on the bank's compliance with the memorandum, the Journal said. In the absence of progress, the informal order could turn into a formal and public action, which would likely mean intensified scrutiny and greater restrictions, the paper said.

However, the newspaper said that BofA's directors believe the bank has met demands set out in the 2009 document. Now, "the board's view is it's time to take us out of the penalty box," one person familiar with the situation told the Journal.

[Po_d Mainiac]

33. Think the markets will move hard in a particular direction

Look at these.

http://www.direxionshares.com/etfs

ymmv

[Demeter]

34. Which countries aren’t bust?

THE ONES THAT BEAT THE BANKSTERS AT THEIR OWN GAME...ICELAND, ARGENTINA, UMMM...

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/which-countries-arent-bust-2011-11-22?siteid=YAHOOB

...Italy’s bust. Spain, maybe, too. Greece? Well, we know about them. France is wobbly. Portugal? Ireland? Don’t ask. Japan is in terrible shape — gross government debts are more than twice the size of the economy. And now, thanks to the failure of the “super” committee, America’s finances look pretty ghastly too.

Maybe it would be better to ask: Who isn’t in financial trouble?

The International Monetary Fund tracks the finances of 98 countries around the world. The good news is that 84 of those countries have public finances in better shape than ours. The bad news? Eighty-four of those countries have public finances in better shape than ours.

Eighty-four. Makes you so proud, doesn’t it?

Based on the measure of “net public debt” as a percentage of GDP, most of the bottom countries are from what we like to call the “developed world” from Belgium and France to Portugal, Greece and Japan. Net public debt may even flatter the picture. It ignores the debt that public agencies owe to themselves, even though, as in the case of Social Security, if someone else is counting it as an asset, then the government really needs to count it as a liability as well.

So, who’s in good shape?

Surprisingly, there are still some developed countries with free markets, stable politics and the rule of law which have also managed to keep their net public debts healthy. So far. Most prominent among them is Norway, which manages to have no net debt at all. The country’s gigantic sovereign wealth fund — financed by North Sea oil revenues — means the government has the equivalent of net cash. Public assets, less government liabilities, amount to 160% of gross domestic product. The Norwegians, being socialists, failed to blow their North Sea oil windfall on flat screen TVs, fast cars, wine, women and song. Instead they saved the money for a rainy day. Crazy. According to the IMF, the other main Scandinavian countries are also in good shape. The governments of Sweden and Finland also hold more assets than they have liabilities, while Denmark’s net debt is a mere 2% of the economy...Elsewhere, Chile’s in balance. Saudi Arabia’s sitting on a ton of oil cash...Australia and New Zealand have net debts of about 8% of the economy, says the IMF. Korea’s at 31% and Canada’s 35%. Yet today the yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes is 1.96%. The yield on 10-year Norwegian bonds is 2.5% and Australian bonds, 4%. Rational? You make the call.

[Demeter]

35. Central Bankers: Stop Dithering. Do Something. By ADAM S. POSEN

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/21/opinion/central-bankers-stop-dithering-do-something.html

BOTH the American economy and the global economy are facing a familiar foe: policy defeatism. Throughout modern economic history, whether in Western Europe in the 1920s, in the United States in the 1930s, or in Japan in the 1990s, every major financial crisis has been followed by premature abandonment — if not reversal — of the stimulus policies that are necessary for sustained recovery. Sadly, the world appears to be repeating this mistake...The right thing to do right now is for the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank to engage in further monetary stimulus. Having lowered short-term interest rates, they should buy (or in the case of the Fed, resume buying) significant quantities of government securities to help push down long-term interest rates and encourage investment...If anything, it is past time for the Fed and its European counterpart to act. The economic outlook has turned out to be as grim as forecasts based on historical evidence predicted it would be, given the nature of the recession, the cutbacks in government spending and the simultaneity of economic problems across the Western world. Sustained high inflation is not a threat in this environment.

As many have observed, we need to rebalance the economy from imports to exports, from private consumption to savings, from tax breaks to infrastructure rebuilding and from the financial sector to everything else. The process of rebalancing will require movement of capital from older industries and activities to newer ones — that is, investment. Moreover, a lot of what was termed “investment” during the boom years was misallocated — wasted — capital, so many productive projects were ignored. But investment has been held back because of uncertainty over the economy’s future prospects. And the ability to attract investors is being limited by the giant burden of private-sector debt. In other words, a financing problem is inhibiting the restructuring of our economy. Alleviating generalized financing problems and low investor confidence is precisely what monetary stimulus does.

Some claim that monetary easing will impede restructuring. But this makes no sense. For all the talk that monetary austerity promotes the “creative destruction” necessary for the economy to recover, it does not work that way. In Japan in the 1990s, a period of insufficiently aggressive monetary stimulus fed lending to “zombie companies” — unproductive borrowers on whose loans the banks could not afford to take losses. It was only when macroeconomic policy led a recovery in Japan in the first decade of this century that capital flowed out of the places it had been trapped and into new and growing businesses. Similarly, after the American savings-and-loan crisis, real reallocation of credit from bad banks and borrowers to worthwhile investment began in earnest only when monetary policy eased in the late 1980s. Another source of policy defeatism is the widespread but false belief that our previous “unconventional” efforts to stimulate the economy either were not terribly effective or are unlikely to be effective if extended today. The fact that the American economy has not fully recovered after previous rounds of stimulus is not evidence that those failed to work at all.

We know that infusions of central bank money to the economy have been closely associated with falling long-term interest rates. We know that the relative price of riskier assets has gone up, indicating greater demand for them, when stimulus has been undertaken. And we know that banks have received increased deposits, and that investors and households have expressed increased confidence, after prior rounds of quantitative easing. That combination has had a stimulative impact, just as a cut in the interest rate would have in ordinary times...In my opinion, we can go further. Central banks and governments can engage in forms of coordinated action that will target the burden of past debts that is hanging over the global economy. In the United States, that means resolving the distressed mortgage debt that is weakening our financial system and reducing labor mobility, thereby constraining not only our growth but also our ability to grow. It is time for the Federal Reserve and elected officials to explore ways to jointly tackle that housing debt.

MORE WIBBLING AT LINK
***************************************************************

Adam S. Posen, an American economist, is a member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England.

[Demeter]

37. The 99%’s Deficit Proposal: How to create jobs, reduce the wealth divide and control spending

Prepared by Occupy Washington DC
Freedom Plaza, November 2011

http://october2011.org/blogs/kevin-zeese/99-s-deficit-proposal-how-create-jobs-reduce-wealth-divide-and-control-spending

The disconnect between Congress and the people is vast. For decades, Congress has been passing laws that benefit the 1%, their campaign donors and big business interests, rather than creating a fair economy that serves all U.S. citizens. With this report Occupy Washington, DC shows that Congress is out of touch with evidence-based solutions, supported by the majority of Americans that can revive the economy, reduce the deficit and wealth divide while create millions of jobs.

OccupyWashingtonDC.org seeks a major transformation to a participatory democracy in the economy as well as in government. For forty years, concentrated corporate interests have acted with intent to take over government and other institutions. We seek an end to the rule of concentrated wealth and corporate power by shifting control, wealth and ownership to the people.

This report puts forward evidence-based solutions that will re-start the economy and avoid placing financial burdens on future generations. For the most part these ideas are not new. They are well accepted by economists and are consistent with the views of super majorities of Americans on key issues. Further, more than three-quarters of U.S. citizens say the country’s economic structure is out of balance and “favors a very small proportion of the rich over the rest of the country.” They are right. The solutions to our economic crisis are evident but they are blocked by those who profit from the status quo and control elected officials through the corrupt U.S. political system and its money-based elections.

The elites in Washington, DC seek to erase deficits that were caused by increases in war and military spending, tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations, the increased cost of health care, as well as bank bailouts, and increased costs and lost revenue from the economic collapse. The bi-partisan elites seek to cut $1.2 trillion in deficits even though there is no outcry for such cuts or evidence in the economy that they are urgently needed. They are proposing cuts in services to seniors, students, the poor and middle-working class households who did not cause the crash but already suffer from its consequences. This report shows that we can get the economy moving, reduce the wealth divide and control government spending while helping the 99%.

This report should not be considered the demand of the Occupy Movement. It was prepared<1> by one Occupation, Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC and it does not reflect even that Occupation’s full demands. Most of this report provides solutions to the deficit questions the Congressional Super Committee is attempting to address while also re-starting the economy. The difference between the Occupied Super Committee report and the Congressional Super Committee report will be stark and further demonstrate the corruption and dysfunction of government. While this report’s recommendations would benefit the 99%, the report that will come out of the congressional Super Committee will benefit the 1%.

• Creating a Fair Tax System That Shrinks the Wealth Divide
  
  
• Cutting Spending for Economic Security
  
  
• Creating Jobs and Restarting the Economy
  
  
• Protecting and Improving Social Security
  
  
• Improving Medicare and Expanding it to Provide Health Care to All in the United States
  
  
• Democratizing the Economy, Shifting Economic Power, Wealth and Ownership to all Citizens in the United States

DETAILS AT LINK

[Demeter]

49. No Pepper Spray on Nonviolent Protesters!

http://nopepperspray.org/#wewon

We won a unanimous federal jury verdict that officers used excessive force against us in violation of our Fourth Amendment rights. Although we were awarded only nominal damages, the judge ruled that we were entitled to have defendants pay our attorney fees because our case established important precedents and served the public interest. Defendants threatened to appeal again. Ultimately, a post trial settlement ended the litigation, heading off years of appeals, and with defendants paying our legal team a substantial sum (but far less than they're worth) for their many years of effort! The settlement agreement has been signed by the parties and ratified by the court, and the settlement money has been paid. The litigation is finished after over eight years and three trials!

SEE ALSO http://nopepperspray.org/#victory

HOW SOON THEY FORGET....

[Demeter]

51. Live Blog for #Occupy Movement: The Fallout from Pepper Spraying of UC Davis Students

http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2011/11/21/live-blog-for-occupy-movement-the-fallout-from-pepper-spraying-of-uc-davis-students/

[Demeter]

40. The Economy Has Changed Expect Hopes, Dreams and Lifestyles to Follow

A man in India was marrying off his daughter. His old friend attended the wedding and noticed that the husband came from a different, and inferior, caste.

"Doesn't it bother you that he's from a different caste," he said to the father of the bride.

"What? Different caste? She works for the Morgan Stanley. He works for Goldman Sachs. Same caste."

And now the global financial Brahmins are on the case. Monti, Draghi, Papademos... 'technocrats,' the papers call them. And US. Treasury Secretary Geithner too. Right schools. Right jobs. Right responses. As head of the New York Fed he was right there when the biggest bubble in history was created. He made no objection. He raised no alarm. And then, when the bubble burst he was at the scene of the crime again...with the rest of his caste. At the height of the crisis in '08, Lloyd Blankfein visited him 39 times. He spoke to the Goldman chief more often than he spoke to his own chief -- US president Barack Obama.

This elite caste invented derivatives and sub-prime mortgage debt. Now, they pretend to solve the problems they caused.

http://dailyreckoning.com/the-economy-has-changed-expect-hopes-dreams-and-lifestyles-to-follow/

[Demeter]

46. Goldman to the Rescue! Bill Bonner

http://dailyreckoning.com/goldman-to-the-rescue/

An epic battle is taking place. Between the forces of...

• inflation and deflation
  
  
• growth and depression
  
  
• credit expansion and credit destruction
  
  
• centralization and de-centralization
  
  
• politics and markets
  
  
• managed paper money and gold
  
  
• managed capitalism and the real thing
  
  
• control and wealth
  
  
• bull and bear
  
  
• greed and fear
  
  
• zombies and real working people

Yes, dear reader, it’s quite a fight. Better than Frazier vs. Ali. And who’s gonna win?

Europe faces its “toughest hour since WWII,” says Angela Merkel. What does she propose? More centralization. Centralization got Europe into this mess — harmonizing interest rates so that the Greeks and Italians could borrow more. And now, more centralization, she believes, will get it out. Europe is taking no chances. This debt problem is a slugger. What to do about it?

Who knows more about debt problems than anyone else? The people who cause them, of course. So, under great pressure from the centralized European authorities, Greece got rid of its Papandreou, after the man had the gall to suggest letting democracy work. He wanted the people to vote on further austerity measures. It replaced him with Papademos...a guy who won’t make the mistake of deferring to the masses. After all, he was vice-president of the European Central Bank for years. And he taught at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.

Meanwhile, Italy too has been forced to get rid of its popular, but difficult to control, elected leader — Silvio Berlusconi. It has put in a company man. Yes, a company man. What company? Goldman Sachs, of course. The new fellow, Mario Monti is an ex-Goldman guy. And so is the new fellow at the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi. Monti was also an EU commissioner. Draghi ran the Bank of Italy as the nation built up one of the world’s biggest piles of debt. Then, when Italy’s cost of borrowing shot over 7%, in came Monti and Draghi.

It is almost as if they planned it that way. Who’s the biggest seller of debt on the planet? We don’t know...but Goldman Sachs has to be up in the rankings somewhere. You’ll recall it was Goldman that helped Greece structure its debt so that it could abide by the letter of its treaty engagements with Europe but totally thumb its nose at the spirit of it. And now the debt has blown up...and the Goldman boys are on the job, managing the mess they were so instrumental in creating. What’s their solution? Oh come on...dear reader, you should know how this works by now. They propose more centralization, more management, more paper money, more debt, more inflation, more of everything you see on the right hand of our column above. In other words, they believe that they know better than the people...or the market. They believe that their sanitized, homogenized, pasteurized Capitalism-in-a-Can works better than the real thing. Besides, they have a reason to believe it. This claptrap is the source of their power, status and money. Who knows, maybe their wives married them because of it. Rather than renounce the program on which their reputations, careers and fortunes depend, they try to shore it up. They open up the can and see what they can use. They promise to reform the system, not reject it. But every reform — unless it merely dismantles one of their previous reforms — is a manipulation...a price fix...and a scam. For example, they are proposing tax incentives to employers who hire youths and women. Good idea? Why not just drop some of the regulations and taxes that make it so expensive to hire youths and women in the first place? Nope. Then, they’d be giving up control. They’d be letting market forces decide who gets what...Here’s another proposed reform, as reported in The Financial Times: “Wider social safety net to help those made redundant (laid off) and encourage labor mobility.” Typical rubbish. Spread a wider safety net and you discourage people from doing the hard work of finding new careers. But here’s one that will be popular with the managers: a “crackdown on tax evasion.” Are you kidding? Tax evasion is the only thing that keeps these economies going. People prevent their government from squandering their money. They spend it themselves. But the new Goldman guys won’t like it. They’ll want to get their hands on as much of that ‘black money’ as possible...Ultimately, the elite managers of Europe and America all went to the same schools (Harvard, Yale, MIT...)...all read the same newspapers and magazines (The Financial Times and The Economist)...all worship the same gods (money and power)...all speak the same language (mid- Atlantic English)...and all want to control the world.

[Demeter]

47. Why France will be forced out of the eurozone | Edward Harrison MUST READ

http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2011/11/why-france-will-be-forced-out-of-the-eurozone.html

Why is the eurozone in crisis?

The short answer is that the introduction of the euro spurred the emergence of enormous macroeconomic imbalances that were unsustainable, and that the eurozone has proved institutionally ill-equipped to tackle. North European policy-makers have been reluctant to accept this interpretation. For them, the crisis is not one of the eurozone itself, but of individual behaviour within it. If the eurozone is in difficulty, it is because of a few ‘bad apples’ in its ranks. In this interpretation, neither the design of the eurozone nor the behaviour of the ‘virtuous’ in the core were at fault.

Ever since the eurozone crisis broke out, the North European interpretation of it has prevailed. It essentially sees the crisis as a morality tale, pitting those who sinned against those who stuck to the path of virtue. The major sins of the periphery were government profligacy and losses of competitiveness. The way out of the crisis, it follows, is straightforward. It is to emulate the virtuous core by consolidating public finances and improving competitiveness (by raising productivity, reducing wages, or both). If the periphery can achieve this, then the eurozone debt crisis can be resolved without an institutional leap forward to fiscal union.

The North European interpretation is by no means all wrong (no serious observer disputes that Greece grossly mismanaged its public finances). But it is damagingly partial and self-serving. It skates over the contribution played by the euro’s introduction to the rise of indebtedness in the periphery; it wrongly assigns all the blame for peripheral indebtedness to government profligacy; it makes no mention of the far from innocent role played by creditor countries in the run-up to the crisis; and it does not acknowledge how the it was wasted (perhaps unsurprisingly).

It is wrong, however, to blame government profligacy for the rise in peripheral indebtedness: Greece is the only country where this holds true. In Ireland and Spain, it was the private sector (particularly banks and households) that was to blame. Indeed, in 2007, the Spanish and Irish governments looked more virtuous than Germany’s: they had never broken the fiscal rules, had lower levels of public debt and ran budget surpluses... Creditor countries cannot be absolved of all blame. Not only was export-led growth in countries like Germany and the Netherlands structurally reliant on rising indebtedness abroad. But creditor countries in the core harboured plenty of vice: the conduits for the capital that flowed from core to periphery were banks, and these were more highly leveraged in countries like Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium than they were in the periphery (or the Anglo-Saxon world)...The eurozone crisis is as much a tale of excess bank leverage and poor risk management in the core as of excess consumption and wasteful investment in the periphery. If the eurozone had been a fully-fledged fiscal union, it would not be in its current predicament. Its aggregate public debt and deficit ratios, after all, are no worse than the US’s. But it is not a fiscal union – which is why it faces an existential crisis, and the US does not.

MUCH MORE SANITY AT LINK

[Po_d Mainiac]

48. this is worth a post of it's own

Basically, it shows that between the advent of the euro in 1999, and 2007, spreads between the bonds of peripheral countries and core ones in Europe were pretty stable. In other words, the risk of any country defaulting on its debt was fairly equal, and small. But after the 2007 US subprime asset crisis, and more specifically, the advent of Federal Reserve / Treasury Department construed bailout-economics, all hell broke loose – international capital went AWOL daring default scenarios, targeting them for future bailouts, and when money leaves a country faster than it entered, the country tends to falter economically. The cycle is set.

The US subprime crisis wasn’t so much about people defaulting on loans, but the mega-magnified effects of those defaults on a $14 trillion asset pyramid created by the banks. (Those assets were subsequently sold, and used as collateral for other borrowing and esoteric derivatives combinations, to create a global $140 trillion debt binge.) As I detail in It Takes Pillage, the biggest US banks manufactured more than 75% of those $14 trillion of assets. A significant portion was sold in Europe – to local banks, municipalities, and pension funds – as lovely AAA morsels against which more debt, or leverage, could be incurred. And even thought the assets died, the debts remained.

Greek banks bought US-minted AAA assets and leveraged them. Norway did too (through the course of working on a Norwegian documentary, I discovered that 8 tiny towns in Norway bought $200 million of junk assets from Citigroup, borrowed money from local banks to pay for them, and pledged 10 years of power receipts from hydroelectric plants in return. The AAA assets are now worth zero, the power has been curtailed for residents, and the Norwegian banks want their money back--blood from a stone. The same kind of thing happend in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Holland, France, and even Germany - in different degrees and with specific national issues mixed in. Problem is - when you’ve already used worthless collateral to borrow tons of money you won’t ever be able to repay, and international capital slams you in other ways, and your funding costs rise, and your internal development and lending cease up, you’re screwed - or rather the people in your country are screwed.

http://www.nomiprins.com/thoughts/2011/11/21/as-the-world-crumbles-the-ecb-spins-fed-smirks-and-us-banks.html

[xchrom]

57. that was excellent. nt

[DemReadingDU]

66. and we are all screwed eventually, n/t

[Po_d Mainiac]

71. Dunno

IIRC the Norse communities, that got handed the wet end of the shit stick, have filed suits claiming the securities were fraudulent, as are countless other harmed parties. A bunch more are w8ing in the wings for a precident to be set.

{These towns were highlighted in the CNBC mini-doc "House of Cards" which aired back in june of 09. It's a good piece (rare for CNBS) and well worth watching if you missed it}

http://www.cnbc.com/id/28892719

These calls for 'put-backs' should be no-brainers, if/when the right law firms (with the staffing to take on the banksters) smell the blood in the water, the shit storm will happen.

At some point the "It's all Europe's fault" aurguement should fall apart and the headlines will read, "It's all the Banksters fault"

[DemReadingDU]

81. bookmarking to watch later, thanks

[AnneD]

83. Listening to it now....

long but very good. Simple to understand.

[Demeter]

54. And they're off again--only not as fast a fall today--Down 22 pts at open

and alas, I too must be off. (Well, I know I am, but) Duty calls.

[xchrom]

56. have a good day, miss demeter!

:hi:

[TalkingDog]

59. Today's toon reminded me of this:

Public Figures by Do Ho Suh 1997

[Tansy_Gold]

65. Or this

And maybe now the real Atlas is really shrugging.



TG

[Demeter]

86. Cool Picture!

[Roland99]

70. Indexes little moved (in Europe, too). Lacking direction.

[Hotler]

72. k&r n/t

[Roland99]

73. looks like they found a direction...downward

Dow 11,469 -79 -0.68%
Nasdaq 2,505 -18 -0.71%
S&P 500 1,185 -8 -0.68%
GlobalDow 1,731 -10 -0.58%
Gold 1,699 +21 +1.22%
Oil 97.97 +1.10 +1.13

Treasuries also headed down...yield's up 2bps to 1.97%. Guess the move is to gold and oil.

[Roland99]

78. and DJIA is -100

Dow 11,444 -104 -0.90%
Nasdaq 2,503 -21 -0.83%
S&P 500 1,183 -10 -0.83%
GlobalDow 1,728 -13 -0.73%
Gold 1,699 +21 +1.22%
Oil 97.18 +0.13 +0.13

I'm sure the lunchtime faeries will help a bit after Europe's markets close.

[Roland99]

79. oh, Euro-rumor Faeries showed up a bit early. Uncle Sam to help bailout Europe???

Uncle Sam To The Rescue: IMF Creates New European Bail Out Facility, The "Precautionary And Flexible Credit Lines"
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/uncle-sam-rescue-imf-creates-new-european-bail-out-facility

IMF APPROVES CREDIT LINE PROGRAM CHANGES TO PROVIDE LIQUIDITY
IMF CREDIT LINE CREATES NEW SOURCE OF FUNDS FOR MEMBER NATIONS
IMF ADDS EMERGENCY FUNDING TOOL TO ASSIST COUNTRIES IN CRISIS
IMF NEW CREDIT LINE AVAILABLE FOR SIX MONTHS TO TWO YEARS
IMF CREATES PRECAUTIONARY AND LIQUIDITY LINE
IMF SAYS ACCESS UNDER 6-MONTH LIQUIDITY LINE COULD BE UP TO 500% OF MEMBERS QUOTA

[Demeter]

87. Oh for Pete's Sake!

They are batshit crazy. This is Timmy's fault.

[DemReadingDU]

80. Uncle Sam to the rescue - dupe

Edit - Roland and I posted appx the same time

11/22/11 Uncle Sam To The Rescue: IMF Creates New European Bail Out Facility, The "Precautionary And Flexible Credit Lines"

And here comes Uncle Sam:

* IMF APPROVES CREDIT LINE PROGRAM CHANGES TO PROVIDE LIQUIDITY
* IMF CREDIT LINE CREATES NEW SOURCE OF FUNDS FOR MEMBER NATIONS
* IMF ADDS EMERGENCY FUNDING TOOL TO ASSIST COUNTRIES IN CRISIS
* IMF NEW CREDIT LINE AVAILABLE FOR SIX MONTHS TO TWO YEARS
* IMF CREATES PRECAUTIONARY AND LIQUIDITY LINE
* IMF SAYS ACCESS UNDER 6-MONTH LIQUIDITY LINE COULD BE UP TO 500% OF MEMBERS QUOTA

Good thing America can get its own house in order so it can go out and fix the world next...

more...
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/uncle-sam-rescue-imf-creates-new-european-bail-out-facility

[Roland99]

82. :-)

[Roland99]

84. U.S. sells 5-year debt at record-low yield

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-sells-5-year-debt-at-record-low-yield-2011-11-22?link=MW_home_latest_news

The Treasury Department sold $35 billion in 5-year notes on Tuesday at a yield of 0.937%, the lowest level on record and below where traders expected the sale to come. Bidders offered to buy 3.15 times the amount of debt sold, the highest since May and above the average of 2.82 times at the last four auctions. Indirect bidders, a group which includes foreign central banks, bought 45.3%, versus an average of 43.5% of recent sales. Direct bidders, a class which includes domestic money managers, purchased another 9.6% compared to 13.2% on average. After the auction, the broader bond market erased losses. Yields on 10-year notes, which moves inversely to prices, were little changed at 1.96% after trading near 1.98% before the auction

[Demeter]

88. Very Expensive Wall Paper

[Roland99]

90. Futures Plunge As Fed Discloses New Stress Test: Fears US Banks Will Need To Raise Tens Of Billions

Futures Plunge As Fed Discloses New Stress Test: Fears US Banks Will Need To Raise Tens Of Billions In New Capital
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/futures-plunge-fed-discloses-new-stress-test-fears-us-banks-will-need-raise-tens-billions-new-c

It appears that the key news of the day was not the fluff about the IMF which as we said was total non-news, but adverse news from the Fed which just announced that it is launching its 2012 bank stess test which unlike previous iterations may actually demand capital raises from US banks. Reuters reports: "The U.S. Federal Reserve plans to stress test six large U.S. banks against a hypothetical market shock, including a deterioration of the European debt crisis. The Fed said it will publish the results next year of the tests for six banks with large trading operations. Those banks are Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo. The Fed said its global market shock test for those banks will be generally based on price and rate movements that occurred in the second half of 2008, and also on "additional stresses related to the ongoing situation in Europe." The heightened stress test for those six banks are part of a larger supervisory test the Fed will conduct on 19 firms' capital plans. The Fed's review of those plans will determine whether the banks can raise dividends or repurchase stock. The banks must submit their capital plans by Jan. 19, 2012." Incidentally, this is a clever way for the Fed to wrap up all the loose ends regarding European exposure: considering each and every day news appears about one bank or another having excess exposure to Europe, it stock punished, this may be the best comprehensive package. The problem is that next steps will certainly involve tens of billions in capital raises demanded of the above six banks (and probably Jefferies) by the Fed. Not surprisingly, ES has collapsed on the news to just over 1180.

[Roland99]

94. Dexia Bailout On Verge Of Collapse, Threatens To Take France AAA Rating Down With It

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/dexia-bailout-verge-collapse-threatens-take-france-aaa-rating-down-it

Having followed the fortunes of the beleaguered Belgian bank from before it appeared on anyone's worksheets, we are hardly surprised that the EU Commission charged with confirming the good-bank / bad-bank restructuring is concerned at the deal that Belgium has with the French (and Luxembourg) government to backstop/finance Dexia's debt. Belgium's De Standaard (and two other European newspapers) today suggests the Belgians fear the EUR90bn deal is 'not feasible' as it stands (with a Belgium 60.5%, France 36.5%, and Luxembourg 3% weighting). Given the change in market conditions the commission, according to the article, is concerned at the ability of each country to finance its respective guarantee (most obviously Belgium) and therefore can renegotiate the October bailout deal. Belgian FinMin Reynders would not confirm the renegotiations but was evidently waiting on the commission's 'comments or additions'. The French are obviously not-amused and of course, any increase in the size of France's guarantee will further impact its ability to maintain the much-vaunted AAA rating.